Aleron focused the moment he noticed a few silhouettes approaching from the distance. The air trembled slightly as faint voices echoed through the atmosphere.
"That's the creature you mentioned?"
"Since it's just him, why don't we capture him and use him as an experiment?"
"How fascinating. The creature has wings... and what's that? Just like the abominations, he can regenerate. How interesting!"
Their gazes locked on Aleron with an eerie curiosity, the kind reserved for rare beasts found in the wilderness—creatures to be dissected and studied.
Even the guard who had been attacking Aleron halted in his tracks, his expression shifting as he turned to look at the five new figures steadily approaching.
Because they didn't consider Aleron's strength a true threat, only a small number had been dispatched.
Aleron used the pause to catch his breath. He turned slowly to face the newcomers, his expression flickering with changing emotions.
Images of the Genesis Coil flashed through his mind. Memories of his predecessor surfaced—memories filled with pain, rejection, and endless mockery. He could still hear them calling him a failed experiment.
That word. Experiment.
The thought alone sent a cold tremor down his spine.
Inside him, Ashkar stirred. The dragon of wrath resonated with the fury boiling within his host. The emotional storm sweeping through Aleron was awakening something ancient and terrifying.
'I will not be shackled again. I will not be studied. I will not be caged,' Aleron thought, his golden eyes glowing brighter.
'System, commence the breakthrough,' Aleron ordered silently.
He had already accumulated enough experience. The only thing he had yet to do was withdraw the rewards for his kills. But now, hesitation was no longer an option.
A powerful roar tore from Aleron's throat. It echoed across the land, shaking the skies and forcing the approaching guards to halt.
His body pulsed with growing strength. Origin energy surged violently within him, flooding his veins like molten fire.
The guards turned toward him, their eyes narrowing.
"It seems he's undergoing some kind of transformation. Should we stop him now?"
They exchanged looks.
A man wearing dark glasses stepped forward, his presence calm yet dominant.
"It's best to stop him immediately. Who knows what that transformation might become?"
The others nodded in agreement. This man was no ordinary guard—he possessed an Origin ability and was one of their designated leaders.
The ground trembled as multiple cracks spread out around the guards.
All five were at the Origin Expert realm.
But it was already too late.
With the system, Aleron's breakthrough process relied only on experience, not time. Within moments, his energy exploded. A dreadful pressure spread out from his body, comparable to the peak of the Origin Expert realm.
The guards flinched as the oppressive aura slammed into them. Still, they remained confident. They outnumbered him, and with their summoned beasts, they believed they could subdue Aleron with little effort.
They thought it was nothing more than a slight enhancement.
Aleron let out another guttural roar, this one deeper and more primal. Within him, the dragon's own energy began to shift.
'Father! I can feel it… just a little more and I can break through!'
Aleron's slitted eyes flickered with understanding.
He knew the dragon meant experience. Though Ashkar lacked the words, Aleron understood the intent.
'Then as your father… I will make that breakthrough happen,' Aleron whispered in his heart.
In the next instant, his figure vanished.
With the surge in strength, his speed had drastically increased. He now moved as swiftly as the elite guard from earlier.
But instead of charging toward the guards, Aleron turned around and bolted in the opposite direction.
The guards were stunned.
"He's trying to escape!" one of them shouted.
They could not allow their precious specimen to flee.
Without hesitation, they vanished and raced after him, their figures flickering as they accelerated through the battlefield.
Advancing to the Origin Expert realm did more than just improve one's strength. It enhanced every physical attribute of the summoner. And if the summoned beast possessed an elemental trait, that trait could be used by the summoner as well.
This was why they were fast enough to match Aleron's escape.
The sounds of pursuit filled the air like slicing blades.
Aleron heard them. But he didn't slow down, not for a second.
Ahead of him, a tier 4 abomination emerged.
Without hesitation, Aleron extended his clawed hand. The sharp black talons had become even deadlier with his recent breakthrough.
The air warped as searing heat erupted around him.
The abomination turned toward Aleron, its gaping maw twisting in fury.
In the blink of an eye, Aleron's claw pierced straight through its chest.
Before it could respond, a blazing inferno burst from Aleron's mouth, incinerating the creature from within.
Ashkar had already killed hundreds of abominations. Aleron could tell that the remaining experience needed was minimal.
That was why he had sought out a tier 4 abomination. The greater the threat, the more the experience.
He activated his Infernal Eyes. Instantly, the world around him changed.
Everything was exposed in vibrant clarity. Dense clusters of abominable auras surrounded him, scattered in twisted groups. There was no room to breathe. He was already surrounded.
Behind him, blazing heat streaked toward his location.
'Time for a feast,' Aleron muttered to himself.
He didn't care about the consequences.
He would slay them all.
Let the city tremble. They denied him entry. He would make them watch as thousands of lives were put at risk.
He didn't realize that Ashkar's influence was growing stronger. The wrath of the dragon was beginning to guide his choices.
Spinning violently, Aleron's body transformed into a spiraling vortex of flame. The moment he reached the group of abominations, he unleashed a tidal wave of aura.
Tier 4 abominations barely had time to shriek before they were incinerated.
He tore through them, one by one, like a hurricane of molten fury.
But the tide was endless.
More abominations poured through the portal, their bodies writhing and howling with chaotic energy.
Aleron sensed something unnatural forming nearby. A ripple in space. A distortion.
This was the consequence of killing so many powerful beasts at once. The world was reacting.
But Aleron did not care.
Ashkar's voice rang out in his mind with childlike joy.
'Father, I… I broke through! So fast!'
Aleron's monstrous face twisted into a savage smile.
Now, nothing could stop him.
Abominations?
Origin Experts?
He would reduce them all to ashes.